The Foreign Service Journal, March 2012

their first annual book sale — a practice that still continues today. AAFSW now also sponsors scholarships under the AFSA Financial Aid Scholarship Program. Over the years, many other persons and groups wishing to recognize Foreign Service personnel who have died or who have had a spe- cial concern for the Foreign Service have made gifts to the scholarship program, and each scholarship that is established is unique. For example, the Public Members Association of the Foreign Service — whose members serve as public members of selection boards, pro- motion panels and inspection teams for Foreign Service personnel — es- tablished a scholarship that is awarded to a college junior or senior planning to enter the Foreign Serv- ice as a career. It has made a contri- bution to the scholarship fund every year since 1992. In the last several years, the Scholarship Fund has been the beneficiary of several large bequests. The program also receives donations through the Combined Federal Cam- paign and the AFSA Scholarship Fund’s Annual Appeal, as well as from AFSA members who choose to contribute when they renew their membership. Recognizing Financial Need and Merit The financial aid program is designed to help families cover higher education costs. AFSA employs a formula to assess need that is used by many U.S. educational institu- tions, in which family and student asset and income along with other data are factored into the equation. Applicants must be full-time students and maintain a grade point aver- age of 2.0. Under this program, AFSA has in recent years provided aid to between 50 and 70 Foreign Service dependents an- nually in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $4,000. We rec- ognize that this does not come close to covering the current costs of university and college, but we are sanguine that it helps. The grants can be given each year for four years of college. There can be multiple awards to a family, up to a total of $10,000 per year. In 1976, AFSA and AAFSW decided jointly to establish a distinct, competitive merit awards program for outstanding high school seniors. At its inception, this program provided awards for academic accomplishment; awards for achieve- ment in the arts and community service were added to the program during the 1990s. The application process for the Merit Award program is similar to that for college admission. The elements consid- ered are GPA, standardized test scores, activities, and com- munity service. Applicants for the Art Merit Award submit graphic art, creative writing, dance, and music entries. Ap- plicants for the Academic Merit Award must also submit an essay on a topic related to their life as Foreign Service dependents, and each year a “best essay” winner is cho- sen. Each year we receive about 90 academic and art merit applications and grant about 25 awards. These awards are not considered scholar- ships, but rather recognize superior performance. Merit awards confer $2,000 for a full award and $1,000 for an honor- able mention. One of my greatest pleasures has been to assisting the AFSA president in presenting these awards to winners in the Washington, D.C., area on Foreign Affairs Day each year. The Scholarship Fund Portfolio The AFSA Scholarship Fund’s portfolio is held in stocks, bonds, notes and cash. As of the end of 2011, total assets were almost $5 million. The Scholarship Fund is an IRS Sec- tion 501 (c) (3), tax-exempt entity that is separate from AFSA. The association’s Finance and Audit Committee oversees the management of the AFSA Scholarship Fund endowment and shares information on this with the Schol- arship Committee. The portfolio is managed by the broker- age firm Convergent Wealth Advisors. M A R C H 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35 In 1976, AFSA and AAFSW decided jointly to establish a distinct, competitive merit awards program for outstanding high school seniors. Zachary Charles receives his Academic Merit Award from AFSA President John Naland and Amb. C. Edward Dillery in 2009.